Contemporary Art

Property from the Collection of Alice Denney

By Sotheby's
Alice Denney. Photo courtesy of the Denney Family


A remarkable testament to her lifelong commitment to championing the avant-garde, the Collection of Alice Denney embodies Denney’s bold spirit and discerning eye for Pop and Color Field art. Considered to be one of the most important figures of the Washington, D.C. art scene beginning in the late 1950s, Denney can be credited with introducing experimental post-war art to the nation’s capital. As one of the founding members of the Jefferson Place Gallery in 1957, Denney played a pivotal role in the early years of the Washington Color School, and works by Kenneth Noland, Thomas Downing and Gene Davis entered her collection. As the co-founder of the Washington Gallery of Modern Art in 1962, Denney’s curatorial influence continued to be innovative as she embraced the revolutionary developments of 1960s culture. Denney organized The Popular Image in 1963 at this museum, one of the earliest exhibitions of Pop Art in the United States, and was instrumental in recommending Alan Solomon to curate the 32nd Venice Biennale in 1964. Together with legendary dealer Leo Castelli, the trio set their intentions on securing the Grand Prize for Robert Rauschenberg.

Led by an early masterwork by Yayoi Kusama, the Collection of Alice Denney tells the story of the close relationships she maintained with the artists she championed. True to her 1966 statement, “I want to see everything going on that’s creative, every painting, every sculpture, every art form under the sun”, Denney organized “Happenings” as well as shows, recruiting visionary artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Mark Rothko, and Claes Oldenberg to bring their art to the nation’s capital. Kusama was one such artist who developed a friendship with Denney: appearing in one of her Happenings, Denney embraced Kusama’s vision wholeheartedly and became an advocate and collector of her work. A captivating glimpse into the development of Pop and Color Field Art from the 1950s to the 1960s, the works from Denney’s collection featured in our upcoming auctions boast impeccable provenance, as they were often acquired directly from the artists who produced them.

Ultimately, the Collection of Alice Denney celebrates the pioneering spirit of Post-War art making and testifies to her formidable presence in the cultural life of Washington, D.C. Denney’s impulse to embrace the daring and the provocative is on full display in her collection. Sotheby's is honored to celebrate the legacy of Alice Denney beginning this May in the Contemporary Evening and Day Auctions during the marquee New York Sales, with further works in Contemporary Discoveries in July.

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